Flash Friday: Happy Meal Car

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  You have my wife to thank for today's update.  I don't normally go to McDonald's so if she hadn't told me about the newest promotion I would have never known it was happening.  Right now McDonald's is putting superhero themed cars into their happy meals.  They also have Barbie Spy Squad themed stuff too if that's your thing.

Anytime there is a Flash car made there is always the joke made about why the world's fastest man would need a car.  Moving past that low hanging fruit we can see they certainly picked a fast looking car for the Flash.  The red paint job has gold glitter in it, although it certain lighting you probably won't notice it.  There is printing on the sides and the roof consisting of both Hot Wheels and Flash logos.  The car does have a pull-back motor to sending it racing across non-carpeted surfaces.

The rest of the car line up consists of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Robin, and the Joker.  I guess because this is considered the "boy toy" that they left out Wonder Woman.  I found it strange that they include a single villain to go with the seven heroes.  Finally if you need one or more of these in your collection, remember that McDonald's will sell you the toy without having to eat their food!

Flash Friday: Lego Mighty Micros

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I had really wanted to post this last week, but sadly real life kept me from getting my order on time.  Ultimately that may have been a good thing, because I’ve had more time put my thoughts together.  Mighty Micros are a new Lego line that started showing up on store shelves this month.  For around 1o dollars you get two very small, almost kart-like vehicles and two mini-figures with short leg pieces.  The current wave contains both Marvel and DC characters; although we’ll be talking about the Flash set today.

  

The first thing you have to remember is these are small sets.  To get two vehicles at such a low price point they had to keep them pretty simple.  The Flash set totals 88 pieces.  That’s 88 pieces split between two figures, two vehicles, and accessories.  Flash gets a tiny race car and Captain Cold a tiny snow plow/tractor.  The Flash symbol on the front of his car is a printed piece; in fact there are no stickers at all in the set which was a really nice surprise.  Both vehicles in this set are pretty sturdy and roll around well.  If you have the urge to really build something out of Lego, these aren’t going to satisfy that, but they are fun to zoom around your desk.

For a Flash fan that isn’t normally interested in Lego this seems like a great set to grab to get a cheap Captain Cold and Flash figure.  Before this Flash was in two sets a Riddler themed set that ran about 20 dollars and the Grodd Goes Bananas set that was about 60.  Captain Cold was only available in the 60 dollar set.  The Might Micro figures are not the same as the ones that came in those sets though.  Besides the fact that the figures come with the short legs that are usually used to represent Lego children the face and chest designs are almost more simple and cartoonish.  The full sized Flash figure has a smaller lightning bolt symbol and detailed muscles on his chest print.  The Might Micro has a much larger symbol and belt print. 

The other big difference in the Flash figures is the face.  The full sized Flash has visible eyes when his mask is on.  The Might Micro has white eyes.  Between the white eyes and the split belt I can’t help but feel the figure was influenced by the Bruce Timm Justice League run.  I don’t have any facts to back that up, it just seems likely.

Much like the Flash, the two Captain Colds are very different.  Let’s talk cold guns first.  The full sized gun is a gigantic collection of thrown together pieces that in my opinion tries to do too much.  The entire lower section cold be left off and it would only improve the look.  The Might Micro cold gun is a ray gun with a few clear blue bricks attached to it.  The large Captain’s torso is done very realistically while the Micro’s is again cartoony and simplified. 

The full sized Captain Cold’s face was always a little wrinklier than I wanted, but was otherwise very good.  The Micro version is cartoony but isn’t so over the top.  Regardless of the design, both figures are instantly recognizable as the captain.  The parka hood on both figures is identical.

The Mighty Micros are a very fun line.  At the price it’s hard not to recommend them.  But I did want to show off the differences between the minifigures. 

Flash Friday: Lego Boomerang

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  This week there have been a few toy shows and the leaks from the Lego summer sets are coming fast and furious.  In fact the pictures I’m going to be talking about come from the website zusammengebaut.com.  There isn’t a lot of Flash news coming from these Lego sets.  We already know that a set with both Flash and Captain Cold mini-vehicles will be released in the upcoming Mighty Micros wave.  But these summer sets also revealed a new mini that Rogue collectors will surely want to add to their collection.

  

In the big set titled Killer Croc Sewer Smash we get the first Lego appearance of Captain Boomerang!  The set features a Bat tank of some sort and a rolling bear trap on wheels.  It’s a odd design to be sure.  The minifigures shine in this set though.  A big fig of Killer Croc, Katana, and Captain Boomerang.  Why do all those characters sound familiar?  It’s almost like Lego wanted to cash in on an upcoming movie without using a name that some might find questionable for a kid’s toy.  So yeah, this is the Suicide Squad set.

Sadly it is a big set.  So to add Boomer to your home lineup you either are picking up a big box or heading to resellers like eBay or Bricklink.  I know that’s the route I’ll be going.  He looks too good not to join my Captain Cold and Trickster.  I mean, look at his little hat!  I need that in my life.  I just don’t need a Batman tank, nor do I need the pieces I’d get from dismantling the Bat tank into spare parts, even if I do only work in black…and sometimes very, very dark gray.

Flash Friday: Rubber Ducky

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  Last week I said I had found my Flash Mopeez while running errands. The Mopeez wasn't the only thing I found that day at Walgreens; I also found a Flash Rubber Duck. The really strange thing is I have no idea where it was supposed to be in the store.  I looked for the box, I was interested into seeing any packaging and what other characters were in the set.  I couldn't find anything and the one duck I did find was sitting on a random shelf that had nothing to do with any other toys.

The odd thing about this duck is it isn't one you actually want to take into the bathtub with you. Under the duck are two metal studs. When you press the studs the duck lights up a number of different colors.  It might be water safe, but I wasn't willing to give it try.

There isn't much you can say about a rubber duck that strobes different colors like a party favor.  I have no idea what other characters are in the series.  I've seen a few of the ducks on ebay if you want one and don't want to randomly explore your local drug stores.

Flash Friday: Zoom Mopeez

It’s Flash Friday!  Way back in May I posted about Funko’s newest plush line, the Mopeez.  In that original wave we got all the usual suspects like Batman, Superman, etc.  I was really happy to see that the Flash had made it into those initial seven characters.  I actually found mine while walking down an isle at my local Walgreens to get cold medication or something else completely unrelated.

What I didn’t know is that Gamestop has an exclusive Mopeez of Zoom.  I can’t even take credit for finding him, my wife noticed it sitting on the store counter while I was busy looking for something else.  Needless to say it was an instant buy as soon as I saw him.

There isn’t anything really different about this little guy; he’s just a palette swap of the original Flash Mopeez.  I still find him adorable though and I’m glad I happed upon him.  I haven’t seen anything yet on a second DC wave outside the Rainbow Batmans.  I’ll post it here if I find anything, because I will lose my mind if they make a grumpy little Captain Cold.

Flash Friday: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom!

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these.  I was in the store this week for something completely different when I ran across the newest Lego movie.  I knew a Lego Justice League movie was coming out, but I wasn’t paying attention to what was coming in the packaging.  Right now you can get either a DVD or Blu-Ray version of the movie and a Trickster mini-figure.  I honestly would have passed on this but getting a movie I can probably enjoy with my son and another member of Flash’s Rogues was too good to pass up.

I just picked the movie up last night, so I haven’t had a chance to watch it.  I’m going to make a guess that it follows their other direct to video offerings.  It’ll be somewhat goofy and will have a handful of lines that make the adults smile.  There will be a couple good Easter Eggs for DC comic fans but nothing to amazing.  That’s my guess, because that’s what has come before it.  It I’m completely wrong I’ll post another article about it. 

Obviously Trickster was my main reason for picking this up and I think he looks great.  As far as Flash villains go he joins Captain Cold and Gorilla Grodd.  Hopefully the success of the TV show will increase the visibility of the Rogues.  I’d really like to see Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, and Heatwave show up in Lego form.

Flash Friday: Mopeez

It’s Flash Friday!  I know it’s been forever since we’ve had a Flash Friday.  There will be more of these coming.  I think things are going to become very interesting for Flash collectors pretty soon.  The success of the TV show hasn’t gone unnoticed and I have a feeling the merchandise machines are spinning.  We’ve already seen solicits for replica rings, replica badges, Funko Pop, and Funko Reaction figures based just on the TV show.  Today’s Flash Friday is about a Funko product, but not the ones I just mentioned.  Instead we’re looking at the Mopeez.

Ridiculous spelling aside, the Mopeez is a new plush line from Funko.  Retailing for around nine dollars the Mopeez sit at four and a half inches tall and are weighted on the bottom so that they retain their sitting position.  The slouched posture and frown are the calling cards of the line, hence the Mopeez name.  I like the little guy a lot though.  They design pushes all the right “cute” buttons and the small size keeps the price point down.  They are currently estimated to show up around August.

Flash isn’t the only Mopeez in the line.  You also get Superman and a host of Bat-Family characters.  There is Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Joker, and Harley Quinn.  The Batman is a standout because he doesn’t look any different than he normally does.  Moping is kind of his thing.  I’m sorry I meant brooding.  Darkness.  No Parents. 

It is interesting that Flash and Superman are the only non Bat characters in the lineup.  Superman is a given, every DC branded line has a Superman in it.  The Flash only gets invited to play sometimes, which in the past has made collecting easy.  I really feel that we’re on the brink of Flash being included in every big product which means that Flash fans will have to start getting more selective in their collecting or take out a second mortgage.  

Flash Friday: Sticker Scandal

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I’ve been pretty behind on updates lately and I want to apologize for that.  Life has a way of throwing personal and work issues at you sometimes and I’m just trying to keep my head above water.  Today is possibly the strangest topic we’ve ever had for Flash Friday and quite frankly I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. 

To start with we have to go back to a Flash Friday I made back in March of 2011.  As I was reading the current Flash book at the time I had noticed how often coffee was brought up in the story.  Iris’ text boxes were even notated with a tiny coffee cup.  Because I thought it would be funny, I jumped into Gimp (the art program not the sex slave) and modified a Starbucks logo so it read Flash Coffee.  I joked that it was a million dollar idea and that DC should run with it.

Yesterday morning I pull up speedforce.org because it is an amazing Flash site.  In Kelson’s Instagram feed I see the Flash Coffee logo.  I wonder to myself why he linked to that after all this time and click on the link.  The picture’s caption read, “Flash coffee sticker #WonderCon #theflash #coffee”. I quickly jumped back to my site to make sure I hadn’t gone insane.  I had been ripped off.

Except I don’t own the Flash logo.  And it wasn’t done by some huge company; it was a guy at a convention that sold vinyl stickers.  It’s also possible that someone else had the exact same idea that I did.  The use of the all black Flash symbol makes me think my image was used for the sticker but I’d never be able to prove it.  I’m oddly conflicted about the whole thing.  I did something cool enough that someone wanted to steal it, but someone did steal my work.  It’s not like anyone is going to make a lot of money off Flash Coffee stickers either.  The vendor is probably lucky to break even on them.  I do wish they would have sent me a handful of them though, I was pretty happy with the design.

Flash Friday: Car Emblems

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been a while since I’ve actually had two Flash Fridays in a row.  What’s even more mind blowing is that I should have one for next week too!  Today’s update is about car emblems.  I don’t mean stickers, but the plastic shapes and figures that people stick to the back of their car.  Things like the Jesus fish, Darwin fish, Spaghetti monster, etc…  There have been a bunch of DC themed car emblems recently released and it will surprise no one that most of them are Bat or Super related. 

They did manage to get a Flash into the line though.  Instead of the more common “running straight at you” pose that is used on a lot of Flash merchandise this one goes for a side view.  The emblem is about 4 inches long and close to 2.5 inches tall.  The costume is a pre-New 52 Barry which is actually a plus in my book.  I find it strange how often I’m still seeing pre-New 52 costumes used products.  There isn’t very much more I can say about these; the cost around 20 dollars and you stick them to your car.

I did also want to mention Aquaman’s addition to this line.  Not because I want to make fun of Aquaman, but because I thought it was funny they still included the water lines around him.  I’ve obviously been playing too much of the Marvel Lego game; the first thing I thought of when I saw him was the Human Torch.  I wonder how well it would hold up if you stuck it on a boat. 

Flash Friday: itty bitty Flash

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been forever since I’ve done one of these, but I really haven’t been picking up too much Flash merchandise lately.  Of course the big news is the Flash television show, but there are a lot of sites covering every detail of that.  Today’s update is happening because I ended up at the mall with some family.  As we’re leaving the Hallmark I see a familiar red outside the corner of my eye.  I turn to get a better look and see shelves of small plush characters.  Sure enough there is a scarlet speedster in the mix.  As my mind is processing finding a Flash toy in a Hallmark I hear, “What are you waiting for, you know you’re going to buy it.”  My family knows me well.

 

I can’t lie; the Flash itty bitty is fucking adorable.  There isn’t a whole lot you can say about a tiny plush figure.  He runs 6.95 and Hallmark was running some kind of special if you wanted four of them.  They’d even pack them in what looked like a fast food drink carrier.  There are four DC itty bittys; it isn’t hard to guess who the other three are.  That’s right Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are all included. 

The majority of the line is dominated by Disney.  Classic Disney characters, princesses, and Monsters Inc are all already on the shelves.  Star Wars will be joining them in September.  The itty bittys are cute, have a low price point, and are covering pop culture icons.  Too me it seems like these are made to compete with Funco’s Pop series. 

See you next Friday for even more Flash Friday goodness!

Flash Friday: Speed Strike Flash

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen the Scarlet Speedster here on That F’ing Monkey but I haven’t had much to talk about until now.  There is some cool Flash news coming down the pike so I’d expect to see Flash Fridays more frequently.  Today’s topic I found by complete accident.  I was walking down the aisle at Target when I saw the new Batman line.  One of the figures caught my eye and when I pulled him from the peg it revealed the Flash Figure behind him.

Speed Strike Flash isn’t going to be on the top of anyone’s wish list because of its sculpt.  The clunky belt is an odd choice.   But I don’t want to sound like I’m bad mouthing this figure because I think it’s important to point out that this is the only non-Bat related figure in the line.  Seriously it’s Batman, Bat Villains, and the Flash.  After years of complaining that there isn’t enough Flash merchandise on the shelves I’m not going to complain about this one.

We do have to mention that Flash comes with two spinning weapons, or as the toy packaging puts it “Dual Weapons Spin!”  If you go by the information posted on the back of the package I guess the weapons are supposed to be made out of Speed Force energy.  Although I don’t think they are going to be much help fighting a fire.  Still the weapons are an odd shape….

Of course they are, because they turn into inline roller skates. 

Flash Friday: Double Down vs. Double Down

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  Before I get into today’s amazing bit of Flashy-ness I wanted to give you a quick explanation of what happened this week.  It’s not like me to miss two updates in a row and not give some explanation of what is going on.  Without going into too much detail, there has been an illness in the family that has me pretty distracted.  I’m going to be taking next week off too.  There may be an odd update if I feel like it, but I wouldn’t expect too much until December.

With all that said it should be pretty obvious that I haven’t been in the best of moods.  Last night I check my email and see a message from Newt over at the Newtcave blog.  He had stumbled across the old villain spotlight I had written about Double Down.  If you remember that article the last thing I mentioned was that I wished I could draw because I wanted to see a picture of Double Down eating a KFC Double Down.  I might have even begged for someone else to draw it for me.

Thanks to Newt you can now see exactly that.  Again, you can check out the Newtcave by clicking HERE.  And I just wanted to send a giant thank you to Newt, because this really did make me smile at a time I needed to.

Flash Friday: Scribblenauts Unmasked

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  Here at That F’ing Monkey we’ve been talking a lot about the DC comic themed puzzle game Scribblenauts Unmasked.  While we mentioned two Flash related characters in the earlier updates today is going to go into detail in how the Flash is handled.  The game surprised me a lot of times in both good ways and in bad ones.

 I’m going to get some of the game setup out of the way first so the rest makes sense.  The game is divided up into a bunch of mini-maps.  Most of these are unlocked and need to be purchased with the correct type of medals.  There are Batman medals, Superman medals, and Justice League medals; each of these medals unlocks different types of things.  You’ll need a Batman Medal to unlock the Wayne Manor map.   You use a Justice League medals to unlock Central City.  Medals also let you buy superhero costumes for Maxwell; each costume gives Maxwell that hero’s powers. 

Central City is the only Flash related mini-map and as I stated above it is unlocked Justice League medals.  That map does have a Flash Museum in it, so that is pretty cool.  The story has you in a race against Professor Zoom.  You have to ride on the Flash’s shoulders and stop all the traps your doppelganger throws at you.  You can also unlock the Flash’s origin story.  This is the new 52 version, so you have Barry’s dad going away for a crime he didn’t commit.  While it isn’t s character, the cosmic treadmill is in the game.  I used it in one of the random challengers when a time traveler needed to get back to their home. 

I’ve done my best to look up everything that would be of interest to a Flash fan.  The big surprise for me was the lack of Impulse;  Inertia made it in but no Impulse.  The other real surprise is Winky, Blinky, and Noddy from the Jay Garrick stories made it in.  I’ve probably missed something or someone important; there are a lot of characters in this game.

The Big List: Speedsters in the game

Jay Garrick Classic, Jay Garrick Modern, Barry Allen New 52 Flash, Barry Allen Blue Flash, Barry Allen Lab Clothes, Barry Allen Flash Classic, Wally West Kid Flash, Wally West Flash, Wally West Kid Lantern, Bart Allen Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, Johnny Quick, Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate), Max Mercury, Professor Zoom, Zoom (Hunter Zolomon), Black Flash, Lady Flash, Inertia, Savitar, Fastback, Rival

The Big List: Speedsters not in the game

Impulse, Jai and Iris West, Walter West, John Fox, Blue Trinity/Red Trinity/Kapitalist Kouriers, Speed Demon, Trajectory, The Terrific Whatzit, The Crash

The Big List: Flash related characters in the game

Henry Allen, Iris West, Linda Park West, Argus, Captain Boomerang (Owen Mercer), Elongated Man, Liberty Belle (Libby Lawrence), Winky Moylan, Blinky Boylan, Noddy Toylan, Pied Piper, Solovar, Abra Kadabra, Blacksmith, Captain Boomerang (Digger), White Lantern Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Chillblaine, Cicada, Cobalt Blue (Malcolm Thawne), Cobalt Blue (Chardaq Allen), Dr.Alchemy, Double Down, Folded Man, Girder, Golden Glider, Goldface, Gorilla Grodd, Heatwave, Icicle (Dr. Mahkent), Icicle (Cameron Mahkent), Kobra, Magenta, Mirror Master (Mcculloch), Mirror Master (Scudder), Murmur, Neron, Plunder, Dr. Polaris, Rag Doll (Peter Merkel), Rainbow Raider, Replicant, Shade, Tarpit, Thinker, Top, Trickster (Axel), Trickster (James), Vandal Savage, Weather Wizard, White Lightning,

The Big List: Flash related characters not in the game

Chunk, Tony Gambi, Detectives Chyre and Morillo, Nnamdi, Manfred Mota, Colonel Computron, Combine, Mr. Element, Fallout, Fiddler, Griffin, Kilg%re, Peek-a-Boo, Rainbow Raiders, Razer, Spin, Suit, Turtle, Clive Yourkin

Flash Friday: Mummy Flash

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been a little while since we’ve had one of these but there haven’t been a whole lot of Flash related items that I’ve wanted to talk about lately.  I only know about today’s item because my wife found it while shopping for clothes for our son.  I’m actually pretty surprised how often places like the Baby Gap have Flash shirts.  I’m also surprised that a one year old’s shirt costs the same as mine, but that’s a complaint for another day.

So here we have it, the Flash’s “Catch Me If You Can” mummy shirt.  I believe my first words upon seeing this were “What the fuck?”  I still thing it sums the shirt up nicely.  To give it some context, this shirt is a Halloween shirt so the Flash is dressed up as a monster.  I guess it’s supposed to be funny because the old shambling mummy is the fastest superhero?  I don’t know.  The whole thing is still really strange to me and I normally really like strange. 

The store I was in also had Batman as a vampire.  At least that one works thematically.  The shirt is made by Junkfood.  If there is an adult version of this shirt available I wasn’t able to find it, but honestly I didn’t look very hard.

Flash Friday: Manapul Shirt

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  Today’s update is pretty short, because I don’t really have a lot of Flash material planned for today.  But I did run across a new T-Shirt solicitation that I wanted to talk about before I had forgotten.

This isn’t the first time that Francis Manapul’s fantastic art has been on a shirt.  I think this one really shows off his unique layouts.  It’s a yellow shirt which will be a turnoff for a lot of comic fans.  I’m the same, the majority of the shirts I own are black or grey.  The only reason there are red shirts in my closest are because of the Flash and the Detroit Red Wings.  If yellow is your color, this shirt is showing up for pre-order on comic sites everywhere. 

Flash Friday: Target’s Justice League

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  It seems DC Comics and Target have teamed up for some pretty spectacular summer merchandise.  That of course means there is a bunch of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman things on the shelves, but I was happy to see the Flash snuck in there too.  Today’s Flash Friday is aimed more at things for kids, but even if I didn’t have a one year old I probably would have bought one or two of the items we’re about to go over.

 First up is a Justice League shirt and a Flash towel!  I know the towel is exciting but look at the shirt for just one moment.  Flash got the spot right under Batman and Superman.  That’s pretty amazing.  Considering that the shirt only have four characters on it I was surprised that Flash was even included.  I don’t believe this offered in adult sizes, this one is sized for 18 months. 

The Flash towel is amazing.  It’s hooded and has cloth wings on the side of the hood.  The hood doesn’t come down far enough for them to add eye holes.  Be warned, this one is not made for adults.  I can fit my head inside the hood, but when wearing it the towel portion just barely made it all the way down my back.  This is something to wrap your kid up in after a day in the pool or something similar.  I may have bought more than one.

There is also a line of kids plates, sippy cups, placemats, and plastic tumblers.  Most of these things are Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman themed.  Because I do have a child at home who could use divided plates I grabbed a Batman and Superman.  The Wonder Woman ones were already sold out at the Target I went to.  I bought the plastic tumbler because I wanted it for myself.

I didn’t just buy it because Target had it labeled as a Flash Tumbler.  Really I didn’t.  The black tumbler with the yellow lightning bolt looks cool.   Technically it looks more like a Black Adam glass.  Target also has a bunch of smaller items.  Things like stickers, temporary tattoos, etc.  All of these things are dominated by DC’s big 3, but I did see the Flash included in some of these packages.

Flash Friday: Flash Chess

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  Flash Friday is the semi-regular feature here at That F’ing Monkey that looks at upcoming merchandise or otherwise shines a spotlight on my favorite superhero.  Today we have a couple of items that you should be able to find for pre-order at your favorite online retailer or in Previews at your friendly local shop.

If you look through the Flash Friday archives it will become obvious that I was a big fan of the Eaglemoss line of DC lead figures.  They weren’t expensive, they looked good, and they didn’t take up much space.  For me, they were the perfect collectable.  Well they’ve decided the pieces work better in chess sets.  In September they will be releasing their first Flash themed chess pieces. The pieces below are part of the Justice League chess set.  Eaglemoss started their chess sets with a Batman one but it must have been popular enough that they are doing it again with a less batty theme.

 We’ve gotten an Eaglemoss Flash before but this one is definitely representing the New 52 version of the costume.  So it has all the required extra lines the costume needs sculpted into the piece.  While I might not be a fan of the new costume, I love the pose of this one.  The last pose had his arms crossed and looked pretty cocky; this new one is practically taunting his foes to come attack him.

Available that same month is the Captain Cold chess piece.  I won't go into the old Captain Cold vs. new Captain Cold argument  I figure we've probably done that enough here.  The Flash piece counts as a Bishop but Captain Cold only ranks as a Pawn.  I would have thought in the Justice League chess set that each hero and their villain would hold the same rank.  Maybe we’ll see a new Reverse Flash as a Bishop later in the line. 

While not related to Eaglemoss or chess I did want to point out that there are sets of 4 inch pvc figures coming out soon too.  I only saw two sets currently listed.  The first set is all bat related with Batman, Robin, and Bane.  The second set is a little stranger; it contains Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Reverse Flash.  I don’t normally question Flash merchandise when we get it, but I do think it’s an odd villain choice considering the heroes in the pack.

Flash Friday: DC Super Friends Busy Book

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I picked up the subject of this week’s Flash Friday a little while ago but every time I went to write about it something else exciting came up.  As a lifelong Flash fan I realize that Flash items are few and far between when compared to Superman and Batman.  Because of that I’m keeping an extra close eye on Flash merchandise aimed at children.  I want my son to be able to have his own Flash stuff.  I’m sure it won’t stop him from wanting to play with the things in dad’s glass display cases, but it can’t hurt.

With this strategy in mind I realize I’ll be buying things when they are available even if they aren’t age appropriate.  I can’t chance seeing something on the shelf and hoping it will still be there in two or three years when my son is finally ready for it.  So I’ll buy them early, stash them away, and just surprise him with them when he’s old enough.  The first of these is the DC Super Friends Busy Book.

I ran into these and Barnes and Nobles.  It was on one of their center tables and marked down for 10 dollars.  There were Busy Books for all sorts of different licensed characters.  I picked up the Super Friend set and flipped through it to make sure the Flash was in.  Once I had seen that I knew it was coming home with us. 

The Busy Book is a large book with about 10 pages.  They’re made of the thick cardboard type material used in kid books.  It’s glossy and has bright illustrations.  It also has a large box at the end of the book that contains a fold out play area and little figures.  What figures are included?  Of course it comes with Batman, Superman, and Robin.  To round out the Super Friends there is Flash, John Stewart Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Hawkman.  .  It’s surprising that Wonder Woman got left out here.  Instead of Wonder Woman we get an adorable little Krypto.  Of course you need villains so Lex Luthor, Joker, Penguin, and Riddler are thrown in

I can’t wait to see the play mat laid across the floor.  As I stated before, it’s too early for this set at the moment.  If I gave it to him now he’d enjoy turning the book’s pages.  The action figures would quickly go into his mouth.  Superman is tough, but I’m pretty sure he’d come out with some bite marks.  One day the Flash and Hawkman will defeat the Joker and Penguin at the abandoned carnival but for now the Busy Book will be up on the shelf until the time is right.    

Flash Friday: DLC Among Us

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know we stumbled for a bit at the beginning of the year, but the Flash Friday updates are going strong again.  In fact I originally had a completely different update planned for today but a trip to the Xbox Live changed all of that.  So not only is there a Flash Friday for today, you are guaranteed one next week.

This week Injustice: Gods Among Us, the DC fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat, came out.  Despite the Flash being included on the fighting roster I didn’t pre-order this one.  I actually haven’t planned to pick it up at all.  A few years ago I had jumped on the Mortal Kombat vs DC game and was overwhelmed by mediocrity.  It wasn’t bad enough to hate and it wasn’t good enough to enjoy.  Unfortunately it’s because of that game I haven’t really been able to get excited about Injustice.

As I turned my Xbox on the other night to spend some time with the fantastic Battleblock Theater I was greeted with ads for Injustice that informed me that the game was now available.  Knowing how things work in Xbox land I quickly went to the avatar store to see if Injustice had its own extras.  I was not disappointed.  For 400 Microsoft points you can clad your avatar in the Injustice version of the Flash’s costume.  Unlike Batman who has 5 or 6 options to go with, this is the only Flash costume currently available on Xbox. 

For 80 Microsoft points you can forgo the full costume and instead choose to rock the Flash T-Shirt.  I won’t lie, I picked this one up.  As I clicked to add the shirt my wife looked at the TV and said, “That’s scary, it looks just like you.”  That’s all I’ve got for you today, check out the Xbox Avatar store for more superhero goodness, and if you picked up Injustice let me know what you think about it.

Flash Friday: New Solicits

Happy Flash Friday Everyone!  I had a completely different Flash Friday planned for today but when DC’s new solicits hit I knew that we needed to talk about them.  That means there will be a Flash Friday next week also.  So what new DC products are so important that I’m bumping another article?

The big news of course is that the New 52 version of Captain Cold is getting an action figure.  I know that some people hate the new redesigns used in the current comics.  There are people that hate that the Rogues lost their gadgets and have powers now.  I get that.  I may even feel the same way, but the above figure does reflect the way Cold looks in the current comics.  Its worth mentioning any time we get a new Flash related figure.  I probably won’t be getting picking up this figure.  I’m buying less and less action figures as space becomes an issue. 

The other item worth mention is the Justice League chess set.  Both the Flash and the Reverse Flash are represented in this set as pawns.  At first I was let down the Flash was considered a pawn.  Then I started rationalizing to myself that it’s because his speed makes him look like he is in multiple places on the board at once.  I told myself that any good chess player knows that pawns can be important pieces.  Finally I just said that we’re lucky he was included at all and to be happy about it.  It’s a nice looking chess set with a $250 price tag.  Besides if you want to really feel bad for someone Aquaman really is a king and he is being used as a rook.